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A 24-year old man has been charged with the second degree murder of Red Scorpion leader Matt Campbell in Abbotsford last month.

Jimi Sandhu is scheduled to appear in Abbotsford Provincial Court Monday on the charge.

Campbell was fatally stabbed in the neck Jan. 2 at the Abbotsford Auto Mall.

Sources said the slaying appeared to stem from an accidental encounter between the gang leader and his assailant.

Campbell, 32, entered a rental car business to seek help but died from the injuries he received in the attack.

Sandhu was arrested in Vancouver Friday, according to Sgt. Bari Emam, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

He was known to police before to the Campbell murder.

In May 2012, Sandhu was convicted of two counts of assault with a weapon — one in Vancouver and one in Abbotsford — and got a day in jail and credit for 31 days served.

He was acquitted of trafficking in Abbotsford in 2009 but has other convictions for theft under $5,000 and breach of probation.

In 2011, he and several others were charged in a kidnapping, but the charges were stayed days later.

Campbell was attacked just before 3:45 p.m. Jan. 2 in the 30100-block of Automall Drive.

“Today’s announcement is the result of a fast paced investigation that commenced on the day of Mr. Campbell’s murder and continued around the clock for the past 30 days. The assistance from the Abbotsford Police Department and the partnership formed between IHIT and CFSEU-BC contributed to the successful resolution of this investigation,” IHIT head Supt. Kevin Hackett said.

“Gang-related homicide investigations are often difficult to solve. Having CFSEU-BC investigators working so closely with our team was extremely helpful.”

The head of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit also praised the close working relationship between the agencies.

“As British Columbia’s integrated anti-gang police agency, it is essential that CFSEU-BC collaborate with units like IHIT and our policing partners to not only ensure communities around the province are safe from gang-related violence but that when that violence does occur that we are there to assist,” Chief Supt. Dan Malo said.

Campbell is believed to have taken over the leadership of the Red Scorpion gang after the arrest or murders of several key gang members in recent years, including brothers Jonathan, Jarrod and Jamie Bacon.

Campbell attended a funeral service for Jonathan in Langley in August 2011 after the eldest Bacon brother was shot to death in Kelowna.

Campbell was convicted of conspiring to traffic firearms in 2007 and received a two-year sentence. During the investigation, more than 100 guns were seized, including military assault rifles, sub machine guns and fully automatic handguns.

Campbell, who grew up in Abbotsford, was extremely close to the Bacon brothers.

He travelled with other Red Scorpions gangsters and their girlfriends to Mexico in December 2007, just weeks after the Surrey Six slayings. Also on the trip were Jamie Bacon, Cody Haevischer, and a man who can be identified only as Person X due to a court-ordered ban, all of whom were later charged in the high-profile murder case.

Person X has since pleaded guilty. Haevischer is on trial and Bacon is due to be tried separately at a later date.

Also on the Mexico trip were Jon Bacon and the late Kevin LeClair, who died in a hail of bullets in February 2009.

According to evidence at the Surrey Six trial, the Red Scorpion gang was formed in 2005 by several teens inside a youth detention centre.

One of the founders, Michael Le, pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to kill one of the Surrey Six victims. The Red Scorpions went on to run drug lines all over the Lower Mainland, with the Bacon brothers and their allies joining the gang in 2007.

A bloody gang war involving the Red Scorpions and their rivals from the United Nations and other groups has left dozens of people dead.

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